Six Months
by Grace Hightower
Summary: Kensi is assigned a dangerous new mission with a surprise partner. While overseas, she finds herself falling in love with the wrong person. Or is he right, and she's been wrong all along? Some mentions of Kensi/Callen at the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, this is going to be weird. But weird can be good…right? This idea came to me late at night, and I'm writing this at 2:56 am, so here goes. Oh, and I didn't know the name of the bar where Hetty offers Deeks a job. If you know, feel free to share. I don't own NCIS: LA.

Chapter One

" Man." Martin Deeks sat slumped on a barstool at Robbie's bar, staring at the glass in front of him. The amber liquid was somehow mesmerizing, and Deeks couldn't tear himself away from the dark, cozy atmosphere of the bar.

" What's on your mind, Marty?" Mike, the friendly bartender, was wiping down a glass. Always inquisitive, Mike moonlighted as a sort of therapist for many of his regular costumers.

" I think I'm going crazy." He replied. Mike looked unconcerned.

" Too much to drink?" He asked. Deeks shook his head.

" Nah. It's a girl…this girl I know-" He cut himself off midsentence. " Ha! Girl…I mean woman, she's a woman, Mike. She's beautiful and talented and smart and funny and…" Deeks gave his shot glass an experimental poke.

" Sounds like love to me." Mike diagnosed wisely. Deeks gave a hollow laugh.

" Wow…love. Yeah, maybe. I just…she's so _perfect_, Mike. It's like she does everything right, except when she doesn't. And then it's wrong in the most…right way."

Mike casually removed Deeks' shot glass from the counter. " Tell her how you feel, buddy."

Deeks rested his chin on his folded arms. " I wish I could, Mike."

Mike dabbed at a stubborn spot on one of the glasses. " Me and my wife…" He gazed fondly at a photograph of a smiling bride and groom behind the bar. " We met and two weeks later I knew she was the girl for me."

Deeks smiled. " Cute. But this girl…she's not like that."

Mike adjusted his glasses. " How's that, Marty?"

" She's tough, but she's been through hell. She's been hurt too many times, so she put up these walls. I know that even if I broke them down…" Deeks trailed off. He didn't know what else to say. The affect of the whisky clouded his mind.

" Love takes time, Marty. Just like everything, love takes time."

…

Halfway across town, Kensi Blye leaned against the soft fabric of her sofa. The week had been nerve-wracking to say the least: solving case surrounding a drug ring, she and Callen narrowly escaping being shot by the drug dealers. And then the call from Hetty…Kensi closed her eyes. She knocked back another shot of whisky, suddenly feeling her stomach clench with nerves. Hetty had called her into the tiny woman's cluttered office and handed her a thick manila envelope. _Operation Falcon. _

_ " An undercover mission in Russia." Hetty said, folding her hands. Kensi stared at the packet._

_ " I've never heard of Operation Falcon. What is it?" _

_ " NCIS has been trying to bust a ring of arms dealers operating out of Russia for years. The case agent in charge of the operation was killed three weeks ago. We need someone else to take his place, and you fit the profile, Agent Blye." Hetty told her. Kensi offered her a weak smile._

_ " Of course I'll do it, Hetty. How long?" _

_ Hetty adjusted her thick glasses. " Six months to a year, Agent Blye. I trust that will not be a problem." _

_ Kensi shook her head. " Of course not." She hesitated before asking,_

_ " When do I leave?"_

_ Hetty titled her head, observing her agent for a moment before saying,_

_ " Tomorrow." _

Now, Kensi was starting to regret her words. Of course she minded leaving LA, heading off for a far-away land of ice and snow. Kensi's thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. Rising slowly, she crossed the room and opened it. Standing on her doorstep was Callen.

" Callen!" She exclaimed, opening the door wider. "What are you doing here?"

Callen looked awkwardly around the room. " Um…I just came to talk."

Kensi slumped back onto the couch. " Well, sit down." Callen sat down at the other end of the couch.

" Hetty told me about the mission." He admitted. Kensi sighed. She had hoped to avoid this, the questions from her friends and the pity she knew they would express eventually. Kensi couldn't help but feel that the mission was a punishment. For what, she didn't know. But she didn't want everyone thinking so too.

" Yeah. Weird, right? It's a deep cover, Russia…" Kensi knew that her words were starting to slur. Callen's blue gaze locked onto Kensi's unfocused dark eyes.

" Kensi, I need to know that you're going to be okay." He said. Kensi felt her heart skip a beat. Why did Callen care? Why was he asking her this? Confronted with the awkward truth, she took a swig of whiskey.

" Kensi." His voice was soft but pressing. She sighed.

" Callen, I'm going to be fine. Why do you even care? You've never given a damn about me before." As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished that she could take them back. Shock and hurt flashed across Callen's face.

" Callen…" She breathed, guilty. She expected him to storm away, to say something cruel back. She held her breath, closing her eyes.

" Kensi, how can you think that? I've cared about you from the day we started working together. I care…more than I should." Callen said. Kensi blinked.

" I care about you too, Callen." She mumbled. " More than I probably should care."

Callen shifted close to her on the couch. " I just wanted to say that if you need a reason to come home from Russia…you know, a reason to stay safe over there…"

Kensi felt her heartbeat quicken involuntarily.

" You." She said. " Callen, I'll come home for you."

Before she knew what was happening, Kensi was kissing Callen, and he was kissing her back. Kensi wrapped her arms around Callen's neck and pushed him backwards against the couch.

" Care about me now?" She whispered. Callen smiled against her neck.

" I always cared about you, Kenz."

….

The sun had barely risen when Kensi opened her eyes. She was lying on the couch in her living room, next to someone. Their arm was around her waist, and Kensi realized with a shock that it was Callen. Then she remembered what had happened the previous night. She ran one hand over her face, wishing she had slept in something other than jeans and a plaid shirt.

" Callen." She whispered. He smiled at her, pushing a strand of hair off her forehead.

" Yeah?" He asked. Kensi fought to keep her voice from breaking as she muttered,

" I'm really going to miss you."

….

" Well, I guess this is it." Kensi stood on the tarmac of the airstrip at Camp Pendleton, waiting for the plane that would take her to Russia. Callen's hand found hers, and she fought to keep a straight face. He hugged her goodbye, and when Kensi slid her arms around his neck, she found herself not wanting to let go.

" Callen, I promise I'll come home." Kensi vowed. Callen nodded.

" I promise I'll wait for you." He replied softly. Their faces were only inches apart, and Kensi could feel the tension crackling like lightning between them.

Then Callen was gone, and she was waiting alone on the tarmac. Kensi shifted her weight from one foot to the other and sighed. She almost missed the familiar voice calling her name.

" Hey! Kensi!" A very familiar figure was jogging towards her, one hand raised in greeting. _Deeks. _

" You came all this way to say goodbye?" He asked, obviously not noticing her packed suitcase at her side. " I'm touched."

Kensi squinted. " Where is Hetty shipping you off to?" She inquired. Deeks set down his duffel bag with a thud.

" Russia, if you can believe it!" He replied, rocking forwards on his feet. "How about you?"

Kensi's stomach was sinking fast. " Operation Falcon?"

Deeks looked surprised. " Yeah. Hey, how did you find out about that? Hetty told me it was classified."

" Yeah…" Kensi stared at the transport plane idling on the tarmac. " Deeks, I'm on that assignment too."

Deeks looked thrilled. " No way! This is awesome." He scooped up his bag and offered to take Kensi's. She slapped his hand away.

" I've got it, Deeks." She snatched up her suitcase and marched onto the plane.

Kensi sat down on the net seat and crossed her legs. Deeks hauled his suitcase over and sat down next to her. Kensi shot him a stern look out of the corner of her eyes.

" Really? A whole plane, and you pick the one seat next to me?" She asked. Deeks gave her a crooked smile.

" You're the only other person on the plane I'd want to sit with." He replied. There were five Marines who were flying to a stopover in Kabul, but the plane was otherwise filled with crates of supplies headed for Marines in Afghanistan. The carrier plane began to taxi down the runway. Kensi felt her stomach clench and she wished that the plane had windows. It was unnerving to be moving so quickly and yet blindly. When the plane began to lift up from the ground, Kensi felt her heart give a familiar pang of fear and sadness. She wanted so badly to be back in LA with Callen.

They were out over the Pacific Ocean by the time Kensi opened her eyes. Deeks was looking at her. Kensi dug out her I-pod and pressed play. She would much rather listen to music than listen to Deeks. Kensi closed her eyes and leaned back with a loud sigh.

She didn't remember falling asleep, but she woke up a few hours later to find Deeks staring at her, _again. _Kensi coughed and Deeks looked away. He glanced at his watch and then back at her.

" Long flight, huh?"

Kensi nodded. " Yeah. Only ten more hours to go, right?" Deeks nodded and Kensi sighed. She couldn't wait to land in Kabul. Kensi had always hated planes; she had since she was a little girl. She always felt too confined, and the idea of hurtling along 30,000 miles high in a hunk of steel had never been much of a comfort.

" Never liked planes much." Kensi commented. Deeks nodded.

" Yeah, me neither." He shuddered. She felt glad that there was one thing they could agree on. There was a slightly awkward silence.

" Sixth months is a long time." Deeks said. Kensi didn't want to pull out the case file in the plane, but she already knew what it would say.

" Hetty said sixth months minimum." She reminded him. Kensi felt her heart sink a little as she thought of how long sixth months was. At least they would be in an interesting, albeit dangerous, place. Kensi had been to Moscow a few times, always on business, as well as St. Petersburg. Both cities were beautiful, especially in winter. She could remember stepping out of a train station and seeing the snow glistening everywhere. Russia in the winter was like an ice queen's garden.

" Long time." Deeks commented. Kensi nodded.

" You're telling me."

...

Five hours later, the carrier landed on a dusty airstrip just north of Kabul. The five Marines departed the plane, and Kensi and Deeks stepped outside into the glaring sunlight as the supplies were unloaded. The air was hot and dusty, and Kensi blinked in the bright light. She and Deeks walked a little ways up the airstrip. Jagged mountain peaks rose against the blue sky, and Kensi found herself reminded of the Santa Monica Mountains.

_Great, fourteen hours and I'm already homesick, _she thought.

" Agent Blye, Detective Deeks?" The pilot called, stepping outside the cockpit. " We're taking off in five minutes."

" Thanks." Deeks called back. He turned to Kensi, putting a hand on her arm.

" You ready? Only two hours to Moscow."

Kensi took a last look at the mountains, so strange and yet so familiar, then turned and followed Deeks into the belly of the plane. She closed her eyes during takeoff, unwilling to let her emotions take hold again. Kensi suddenly found herself wanting to get away, to return to LA and be safe in someone's arms. Callen's arms. Kensi was struck by the sudden thought that she could be flying towards her death. And Deeks' death. And she had never said half the things she wanted to. To the team, her friends, to Callen. Kensi felt tears fill her eyes, and quickly look away. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Deeks.

" Kensi, are you sure you're okay?" He asked. She shot him an angry look, unsure of what else to do.

" Yeah." She answered, feeling less and less confident in this every moment that they spent headed for Russia. " Yeah, I'm fine." She faked a cough. " My eyes always water when I fly." Saved by another lie. Deeks didn't look satisfied, but she turned away and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. And she found, eventually, that her faked slumber became real.

" Kensi." Deeks' voice was in her ear, whispering softly. " Kensi, we landed. We're on an airstrip outside of Moscow." _Great. _She nodded, stood up. Kensi's joints ached in protest as she gathered her suitcase and stepped outside. A freezing wind blasted her cheekbones pink and whipped her hair across her forehead. She buttoned her coat with freezing fingers. Deeks joined her, teeth chattering, next to a black SUV.

A man with cold blue eyes and a pale face stood beside the door, a black scarf wrapped around his neck.

" Welcome to Russia, Agent Blye."

A/N: Whew! Sorry that chapter was so long. I couldn't stop writing! If you've made it this far, I congratulate you. Happy New Year, and kudos to anyone who can catch the NCIS quote-it's slightly altered-in here! Don't forget to review! Thanks everyone.


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks to GottaLoveMEgan, evershort, ds9jullian, bookworm73, comicbookstory-cheers, sis-and everyone else who read! I hope that everyone is having a great start to the New Year. Yay for 2011! I will try and add some Russian in this chapter, but I don't speak it very well and I'm certainly not too great at the grammar part. I don't own NCIS:LA.

Chapter Two

Siberia

" I'm Agent Crosby. I'll be your contact in case there's an emergency, but I doubt there will be." The man held open the door of the black car. Kensi and Deeks tossed their suitcases into the back and climbed in. The snow whipped across the windows of the car, obscuring Kensi and Deeks' view of the strange land they had been delivered to. Kensi sighed, shivering a little. A two-hour plane ride had sure made a difference. It was freaking freezing!

Fifteen minutes later, the car stopped. Kensi wiped some of the steam from the window. Steam and smoke swirled from the wheels of a train that was pulling into a remote station. Crosby handed Kensi two train tickets and a scrap of paper.

" That's the address of the safe house you'll be staying in. Take the train to the station at Bolshoe Goloustonoe. It will be the last station the train stops at. A bus will take you to the edge of town. From there, walk until you find this address." Crosby opened the door and urged them out, offering 'good luck' as they headed towards the train.

They boarded the train and Kensi chose a seat near the back of the train so they could see everyone in front of them. Deeks, to her great dismay, sat down next to her.

" You always get the window seat." He joked. Kensi elbowed him and replied in Russian,

" You could have sat anywhere." She glanced around the train. A few other passengers were sitting in seats near the front of the car. " And speak in Russian. The last thing we want in this place is to be known as foreigners."

Deeks nodded. " Got it."

Two hours later, the gentle clack-clack of the train lulled Kensi to sleep. The countryside was nothing but white through the windows of the train, and the inside of the car was chilly.

" Kensi." Deeks whispered in her ear. " Kensi, we're here."

Sure enough, the train was slowing, as if approaching a station. Kensi found that all the other passengers had gone, leaving only herself and Deeks behind. She rose a little unsteadily, grabbing her bag and following Deeks off the train.

Outside, it was freezing cold and an icy wind whipped through the tiny outdoor station. Snow had gathered in huge drifts along the roadside. An ancient bus idled by the side of the road. Kensi approached the driver.

" Excuse me," She asked in fluent Russian, " I'm trying to find my aunt's house. She lives on the edge of town. Can you take us there?"

" Yes." The driver replied. " You'll have to walk about half a mile."

Kensi handed him the money. " That's fine. Thank you." She hauled her suitcase onboard. Deeks scampered up the steps behind her.

" Is he your husband?" The driver inquired. Kensi smiled.

" My boyfriend. He's a little slow." She added, biting back a laugh as Deeks whispered,

" What did you say? What did you tell him?"

It was a half-hour bus ride through the snowy streets of the tiny village. Kensi tapped her foot anxiously against the freezing bus floor. She didn't usually get nervous during missions, but this one was so different. This time, there was no backup. The only other person she had in this whole god-forsaken village was sleeping with his head on her shoulder. Kensi gave Deeks a sharp poke in the ribs as the bus rumbled to a stop. He jumped to life and grabbed his suitcase.

They disembarked the bus and Kensi's breath caught in her throat at the freezing air. The bus belched out a cloud of dark exhaust and lumbered away, leaving Kensi and Deeks standing alone on the edge of a town in the middle of nowhere.

…

" I'm freezing!" Deeks complained loudly in poor Russian. Kensi glared at him. It was true that they had been walking for nearly half an hour, but Deeks acted like they were being forced to trek through the Arctic. Which, she thought, they kind of were. But she had learned to keep her mouth shut.

" Deeks, shut up, we're almost there." She snapped. Suddenly, a tiny house appeared on the edge of a vast frozen field. There were no street signs, but Kensi somehow knew that this was the right place.

" We are here." She corrected herself. Deeks rushed for the front door. Kensi tossed him the key. Pinned to the front was a piece of crumpled paper.

_Falcon. _" This is the place." Kensi muttered. Deeks pushed open the front door and he and Kensi ducked inside. Wind slammed the door shut as soon as they stepped inside. The house was tiny, with one main room and a small room off the main room that Kensi thought was probably a bathroom. Kensi smirked as she set down her suitcase.

" Only one bed, Deeks. Want to flip a coin?" She asked. Deeks groaned.

" I'll take the couch." He offered at once. One side of Kensi's mouth twisted in a smile. Despite his shaggy, awkward appearance and immature attitude, Deeks really could be a gentleman.

" You're going to regret that decision in the middle of a Russian winter." She warned him. Deeks sat down on the couch.

" It's fine. I spent most of my teenage and young adult years crashing on my friend's floors." He told her. Kensi raised one eyebrow.

" Really?" She asked, starting to unpack her things. She hadn't brought much, just some of her sparse wardrobe, along with some winter clothes and her Kevlar. There was a battered wooden dresser near the bed, and Kensi folded her clothes into the top drawer. Deeks stuffed his clothing into the bottom two drawers and hung his Kevlar on a nearby hook.

" Yeah. My dad was always kicking me out of the house, so I'd have to beg my friends to take me in." He gave one of those dry laughs. " Pretty soon, they'd just leave a window open and I'd climb in at, like, three in the morning."

Kensi felt a tiny pang of pity for her partner.

" Your parents fought a lot, huh?" She asked, moving to the cupboards in the kitchen area. Deeks chuckled.

" Yeah. Pretty much every night. I remember being a little kid and thinking…" He trailed off, picking at the nubby arm of the couch.

" Thinking what?" Kensi asked, finding some potatoes in the cupboard and searching for a knife. Deeks rose to help with dinner.

" Thinking that pillows were something you used to put over your ears to block out the screaming." He mumbled. Kensi glanced sideways at him. She had rarely seen this side of her partner. He looked so awkward and sad, she felt the sudden urge to hug him. Instead, Kensi handed him a potato.

" Here. Peel this."

Deeks accepted the vegetable and a paring knife. Kensi found an old pot underneath the sink and rinsed it out. She tried to act normal, but she got the distinct feeling that everything was about to change.

…

The next three days passed with a kind of aching slowness. Kensi found new ways to relieve boredom, like knitting. She was working on a hat when her cell phone rang. At first, she assumed it was someone from Russia making contact with them, probably Crosby.

" Agent Blye." She replied. She heard a chuckle at the other end, and her stomach filled with butterflies. That laugh had been driving her crazy for years now.

" Callen." She breathed.

" Hey, Kenz. How are you?" He sounded so anxious. Kensi decided that it was adorable.

" We're great." She replied. " No one's made contact yet, we're staying in a house in the middle of nowhere, other than that we're amazing."

" We?" Callen asked. Kensi realized that he didn't know she had been paired with Deeks for the mission.

" Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you-Deeks came with me." She heard Callen snort on the other end.

" If he tries anything funny with you, just tell me and I'll kick his ass when you get back." He said. Kensi nodded.

" Right. Well, I have to go." Kensi had gone outside to talk, and the field was quickly becoming freezing as night fell.

" Kensi, be careful." Callen said. Then he added, " I love you."

She felt her cheeks heat in a sudden blush. " I love you, too." She replied quickly, a little nervous. She hung up the phone and turned to go back inside, only to find Deeks standing behind her.

" Oh my God!" She exclaimed, almost dropping her phone. " Deeks, what the hell are you doing?"

" Who were you talking to?" Deeks asked. Kensi glared, but she felt her cheeks burning and she prayed that he hadn't overhead the entire conversation. If he knew she was dating Callen, he would flip out.

" None of your goddam business, Deeks." She replied. Kensi turned and marched back into the house, trying to act like she didn't care. She felt Deeks' gaze drilling into her back before she turned the corner. Kensi sat down on the couch and pulled out some of the paperwork she had brought with her. After a while, Deeks sat down next to her.

" Hey, Kensi. Didn't know you had a boyfriend." He said. Kensi blushed.

" I don't. I was talking to my cousin. She's a teacher." Kensi lied quickly.

" Right." She could tell that Deeks didn't believe her. Fine. She didn't care what he thought.

" Oh, and Deeks? If I was seeing someone, it's none of your business."

….

Kensi lasted another four days before she got sick. The first wave of the flu hit her as she was leaving the village's bakery with a loaf of bread. Kensi barely made it back to the house before collapsing on the couch. Deeks was whittling something out of wood at the kitchen table. When he saw her stumble in, he jumped up.

" Kensi, what's wrong?" He asked. Kensi buried her face in the musty pillow.

" Nothing, Deeks. Just leave me alone." She muttered, feeling miserable. Deeks sat down next to her.

" Are you sick, Kensi?" He asked. Kensi moaned. She felt like death itself, and wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep.

She felt a cool hand resting on her forehead and closed her eyes.

" You're burning up!" Deeks exclaimed. "Let me get you into bed." Kensi chuckled.

" Really, Deeks?" She groaned as she struggled to sit up. " I bet you've been waiting a long time to say that."

Deeks laughed softly in her ear as helped her over to the bed. " You have no idea, Kensi."

Kensi drifted into a fitful sleep, but woke when her body became racked with chills. She was shaking, her teeth chattering together.

" Deeks." She whispered desperately. " Could you hand me another blanket?"

" Kensi, there's only one blanket." Deeks replied. " And you're really sick. You have a super high fever." He looked worried.

" I'm freezing." Kensi mumbled, shaking beneath the blanket. " Like, really, really freezing."

" That's it." Deeks sat down on the other side of the bed. " I'm taking you to a doctor."

Kensi grabbed his hand. " No, Deeks. You can't. They'll know we're American, and if word gets out that there are two Americans in town our cover might get blown!" Deeks sighed.

" I can't just let you suffer, Kensi." He said. Kensi let out a soft laugh.

" If I were a horse, you would have shot me." She huddled miserably under the blanket and closed her eyes. Then she felt something warm touching her side. Someone had slid into bed with her. She felt Deeks' arms wrap around her body and she groaned softly.

" Deeks, what are you doing?"

" Keeping you warm." He replied, giving her a little squeeze. Kensi cuddled closer and her teeth stopped chattering.

" Deeks, you're going to get sick too now." She said.

" I don't get sick." He replied. Kensi forced out a tiny laugh at his bravado. She put her head on Deeks' chest. Kensi realized with a little shock that it felt surprisingly natural. She reminded herself that it was probably because they were partners and close friends, and that those butterflies she felt in her stomach were due to her cold.

" All this time I've been trying to get you into bed with me, and all it took was a little cold?" Deeks whispered. Kensi elbowed him gently.

" Deeks, shut up."

" What?" Deeks slowly rubbed a hand down Kensi's back. Too sick to argue, she rolled her eyes and huddled closer against her partner.

After a while, she fell asleep. When Kensi woke up, the house was dark and the lamps were on. She felt a bit better, as in 'not about to collapse and die' better, so she squirmed out of bed and crossed over to the couch where Deeks was sprawled. She sat down at the far end, then leaned over and whispered in his ear. He opened one eye.

" I wasn't asleep." He muttered. Kensi curled up on the couch and put half the blanket over Deeks.

" You should sleep." She said. " Where did you learn how to take care of sick people?"

Deeks rubbed his eyes. " My little sister used to get sick a lot when we were kids. My mom and dad were either too drunk or too busy fighting to notice, so I used to take care of her."

Kensi sighed. " That's sad, Deeks." Kensi's eyes closed, and she found herself drifting off to sleep. She expected Deeks to leave her lying on the couch, but instead she felt him carry her over the bed. She whimpered a little in her sleep as she realized that this was the second time today that her partner had taken her to bed with him.

….

_She was in the locker room, pulling the elastic band out of her braid and letting her hair fall down her shoulders. Kensi glanced in the mirror and sighed. The dark circles under her eyes betrayed her sunny smile and told a story of a long night spent working leads that took her nowhere. She almost didn't hear Deeks enter the locker room but she felt him behind her and wheeled around. Before she knew what was happening, he had planted a hand on either side of her and pressed her against the wall. Kensi let out a little gasp as Deeks kissed her hard. Taken by surprise, it took her a moment to respond, but after a split second of hesitation she kissed him back. Deeks' hand slid down her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her cheeks were hot and flushed, and their bodies pressed together and she heard herself whimper his name…_

" Marty." Kensi whimpered.

" Kensi?" Her eyes flew open and she gasped. She was curled against Deeks on the bed, he had obviously been reading a book while she slept. Then she realized that she had said his name aloud. No, not said. Whimpered.

_Oh, my God. _Kensi thought. _I had a sexy dream about my partner. _She glanced into Deeks' eyes, and instantly she knew that he knew. Her face flushed, and buried her head in the pillow.

" Um, Kensi, are you okay?" Deeks asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Kensi sniffed. God, this couldn't be happening. Deeks was her partner, for crying out loud! And she already had someone that she loved at home. Callen. Who she would see in…six months to a year.

" Yeah." She replied. " Yeah, I'm fine. I feel a lot better." She hastily changed the subject. " I think I just needed some sleep."

Deeks raised one eyebrow, looking skeptical. Kensi's stomach did a flip. He looked so damn hot when he did that.

" Actually, I had a weird dream." She admitted. Why not just tell him? It couldn't hurt to be honest. And maybe…maybe she felt like that dream might become real if she told him.

" Really?" Deeks looked interested. "How weird?"

" You and me in the locker room." Kensi confessed. Deeks' mouth fell open.

" Not like that!" Kensi snorted. " I mean…not…_graphic._" Deeks looked surprised.

" So…not graphic? Wait…that's beside the point. You had a sex dream about me?"

" No!" She protested, blushing. " I mean…not really."

" Well, now I'm interested." Deeks leaned forwards. " How did it start?"

Kensi pressed her lips together. " Deeks…"

Before she could tell him to go away, that she had changed her mind, he leaned in closer, bridging the gap between them, and pressed his lips to hers. Kensi's eyes flew wide open. Just like the dream, she waited for a split second before responding. _Callen is probably seeing someone else. Besides, he'll never find out about this. _Kensi leaned into the kiss, sliding her arms around Deeks' neck as he moved his hand down her waist. She tried not to say anything as he fingered the hem of her shirt, but she ended up whispering, 'Marty' anyway.

This time, the dream didn't end.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner! School and life in general just got in the way. But anyway, here it is! Thanks to my faithful readers for reviewing! Obviously, I don't own NCIS: LA.

Chapter Three

Weak sunlight was streaming into the room when Kensi's eyes opened at 6:00. Despite the time change, her sleep habits hadn't changed at all. That was what Kensi until she realized that someone had their arms wrapped around her, and her head was resting on that someone's chest. That someone was Deeks.

" Ah!" Kensi gasped. Deeks opened one eye.

" Well, this is awkward." He muttered. There was a long silence. Kensi's face flushed as she recalled the events of the previous night. She couldn't believe that she had been so stupid! Kensi groaned and shoved off the blanket. Deeks looked concerned.

" Is something wrong, Kenz?" He asked. The use of her nickname sent her over the edge.

" Yes!" She exclaimed, then caught herself. " I mean, no. I mean…" She drew in a frantic breath. " I have to make a phone call."

….

" Callen?" Kensi whispered into her cell phone. Standing on the edge of the frozen field was probably stupid, but she needed to talk to Callen.

" Kensi?" He answered. " Are you okay?"

Kensi glanced at her watch and realized that it was very late at night in California.

" Um, yeah, I'm fine." She felt her throat go dry. " I just…I think I made a mistake."

" What do you mean?" Callen asked. Kensi felt tears blur her voice.

" Callen, I think that maybe we rushed into things...maybe that was a mistake." She choked out. There was a long period of silence on the other end.

" Kensi, did you sleep with someone else?" Callen asked. He didn't sound angry, he sounded sad, which broke Kensi's heart even more.

" Yes. No. Kind of." She felt like crying, which was not a feeling Kensi experienced very often.

" Okay." Callen seemed eager to cut the conversation short. " Let's see how things are in six months."

" Wait…" Kensi whispered. " I…um…I'll see you in six months." She had been about to say ' I love you', but now the words sounded wrong.

" Yeah." There was silence on the other end as Callen hung up his end of the line. Kensi groaned. This was awful. She felt like breaking into sobs, but she knew that Deeks was somewhere near by and she feared showing weakness in front of her partner. She slid the phone into her pocket and groaned, then leaned against the side of the house.

She felt tears gather behind her eyes, but refused to let them fall. Instead, she gave him face an angry swipe with one hand and marched back inside. Inside, Deeks was reviewing some old case files.

" Remember this one?" He held up a sheaf of papers. " We had to trek through the freaking desert to find those Marines. What a job."

" Hey, you signed up for it." Kensi told him. She began to feel better, knowing that he was joking around with her. Somehow, Deeks acting like an idiot always managed to cheer her up.

" I know." He sighed and put the files down. " But seriously, our job is basicly doing dangerous, sometimes stupid stuff and trying not to die. Why the hell are we in this game in the first place?"

Kensi stared at Deeks. The light was cold and grey, so she flicked on the small lamp that stood in the corner.

" Well, I like danger." She gave a tiny smile. " I always have. I was the most reckless kid in my class, all the way through high school. Climbing trees, jumping dirtbikes, racing horses…I jumped out of the bed of a truck doing 40 on the highway." Kensi added. Deeks looked impressed.

" God, Kensi. You never told me you were crazy." He leaned over the piece of wood.

" Tell me about you." Kensi crossed to the tiny kitchen and reached into the back of one of the cupboards. She extracted her arm, clutching a bottle of vodka.

Deeks chuckled. " Never took you for a vodka kind of girl."

" That's because you don't know me very well, Deeks." She fished two old, cracked mugs out of the cupboard. She put them down on the table and grinned as she poured vodka into them.

" We're going to play a drinking game, Deeks." She said. Deeks stared.

" It's called Truth or Drink. Like Truth or Dare for adults." She added, handing him a mug. He accepted cautiously, looking nervous. Kensi grinned.

" What? Scared I'll drink you under the table?" She asked, elbowing him. Deeks sat up straighter.

" Never." He replied.

" That sounds like a bet to me." Kensi raised her mug. " I'll go first."

" Fire away." Deeks challenged. Kensi smiled.

" Fine. How old were you when you had your first kiss?"

Deeks scoffed. "Easy. Kindergarten. May Thomas, the most popular girl in school." A dreamy look crossed his face. " Ah, young love."

Kensi rolled her eyes. " Creep."

Deeks chuckled. " How about you?"

" Fourth grade." Kensi replied. " Tommy Jenkins, behind the cafeteria. He told me never to tell anyone…in fact, I'm pretty sure that you're the first person who's ever heard about this."

Deeks patted his chest. " I'm honored."

" Okay, Deeks." Kensi narrowed her eyes. " How old were you when you fell in love for the first time?"

Deeks stared at the worn wooden floors. " Trust a girl to pick the one about love." He muttered. " Um…tenth grade, I guess. Her name was Lila Tracey, and she was perfect. I mean…she was pretty, a cheerleader and she didn't think I was an asshole. So yeah, pretty much perfect."

"Wow, Deeks." Kensi shook her head. " That's true love for you."

" And then there was Sara Beckers…" Deeks gave a loud sigh. " She was cute, blonde, a surfer." Deeks grinned.

Kensi raised one eyebrow. Deeks crossed his arms and leaned back.

" Okay, Kensi. Here's a hard one for you. What's your biggest secret?"

A challenge that Kensi refused to face. Knowing that she could never tell him about Callen, Kensi drank. She asked Deeks if he had ever traveled to Thailand. A lame question. He asked her if she had ever fallen in love with a coworker. Kensi knew what he wanted to hear, and she drank. The vodka was going to her head. She asked him what his greatest fear was. It was losing someone he loved. She didn't think he was being completely honest. He asked if she had ever done really stupid while drunk. He added,

" Like slept with certain people and regretted it in the morning."

" Wow, Deeks…that was pretty obvious." Kensi narrowed her eyes. Her thoughts seemed to be coming in slow motion. " Are you trying to get me drunk so I'll sleep with you?"

Deeks feigned offense. Or maybe he wasn't faking it.

" Who, me? Never!"

Kensi stared at the clear vodka and sighed. " Well, I guess you have a point."

Deeks' eyes widened. Kensi gave him a teasing smile and continued,

" There's nothing else to do here but get drunk off my ass, right?"

Deeks nodded. " Only six more months of nothing."

There was a long silence. Then Deeks spoke.

" Want to play Truth or Dare?" He asked. Kensi smiled.

" Well sure, Deeks. I'm pretty sure that I can out-dare you any day." Deeks accepted the challenge.

" Okay. I dare _you _to kiss _me._"

….

Many thousands of miles away, across the choppy Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, two figures sat in an otherwise dark room. One of the figures turned to the other.

" Bad news, Eric. I just lost contact with Deeks and Kensi. They're off the radar."

A/N: So, so sorry for the lack of updates and the crappy ending…haha, it's like one in the morning….


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello again, my friendly readers! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last time…I promise that this chapter will be better than the last one! I also hope it clears up some of the lingering questions that this poorly-crafted story has left behind. I apologize for any confusion. Over and out-Maddie.

" Man, this sucks." Deeks stared out the window at an eight-foot-high snowdrift. " I mean, I know this is Russia, but come on!"

Kensi sighed. " Deeks, the key word in that sentence was Russia. This is Russia, in the middle of winter. And you did sign up for this when you joined NCIS."

Deeks turned away from the window. " Touché." He shook his head. " It's funny, though. Somehow, I imagined that all our missions would be like those first few undercover ops…you know, staking out exclusive nightclubs and pricey jewelry stores."

" Oh come on, Deeks. You were a detective. You had to have done worse than this." Kensi replied, crossing the room to stand beside him. Her partner glanced her way, his eyes dark behind his fringe of blond hair. Kensi stared at him.

" Deeks, what's wrong?" He was acting oddly, impatient and restless.

" I hate this. Hetty never told us why we were sent here, all that she said was that we were taking over some mission. She said that we would be here for six months to a year, she warned me it might be dangerous, but she never told us _why. _And how is this even dangerous? All that we've done for the past four weeks is sit in this stupid hut on the edge of some god forsaken forest!" Deeks' breathing had accelerated, his eyes looked slightly wild. " Without a cell phone signal or internet access, we can't even talk to anyone at home. Does anyone in that office tell us anything?"

Kensi found herself, for the first time in her life, feeling alienated from her partner. Deeks was usually a cheerful guy who accepted whatever crap life threw at him with little complaint. She knew that he had suffered a rocky childhood and that he didn't have many friends outside of work, but she had never bothered digging into his personal life much. And while Kensi had seen her partner get angry or frustrated when they lost a suspect or a case turned cold, she had never seen him like this.

" Looks, Deeks, let's look at the case files again. Maybe they'll tell us something that we didn't pick up before." She suggested, crossing to the table and picking up a manila envelope. Deeks snorted.

" Kensi, didn't you read them? The important stuff is all censored out, like we don't deserve to know what we're running headlong into."

" Deeks." Kensi handed him a file. " It's not like that, and you know it. This mission is top secret because if word gets out that the feds have infiltrated the arms smuggling ring, it will scatter and we'll never catch anyone."

" Yeah, but who are we going after?" Deeks leafed through the files. " There's no names mentioned, no cities…nothing. Not one mention of the Navy or Marine Corps. I don't see how the hell this fell to NCIS jurisdiction."

Kensi wanted to have an answer; she wanted to be able to tell him. But she didn't know the truth either.

Two hours later, Kensi found something. It was buried in the back of a file, hidden amongst a sea of blacked out sentences.

" Deeks, look at this." She pointed. " A 27 year-old Petty Officer was murdered in Moscow four years ago, but the killer was never found. Three years ago, a Lt. Colonel was on leave in LA when he was gunned down by a suspected member of a known arms-dealing ring. Look at this!" Kensi gestured. " Four deaths, all Navy…all somehow related to the Russian arms dealers."

Deeks shoved back his chair and paced angrily across the room. " That's it! I'm calling that guy…what's his name, the agent in charge of this case…?"

" Crosby." Kensi replied. " But he said that we should wait…"

Deeks ran his hands through his hair. He looked desperate, like a trapped animal. Kensi had seen this look before on her partner, when he had lost his old partner and friend Detective Traynor.

" Hey." Kensi stood and put a hand on Deeks' shoulder. " It's going to be okay."

Deeks hung his head. " Kensi, we have waited for _four weeks_ and nobody has even attempted to make contact. No arms dealers, not the team…not even Crosby. It's like nobody knows we're even here."

…

" Off the radar?" Callen leaned against the wall of the OSP tech room, looking worried.

Nell and Eric exchanged nervous glances.

"Gone might be a more accurate description." Nell said. " It's like they just dropped off the face of the Earth. The agent in charge over there, Agent Brewster, was supposed to call us from Moscow when he knew they were safely settled in over there."

" And he never called?" Sam guessed. Eric shook his head.

" Oh no, he called all right. But get this…Deeks and Kensi's flight landed on time and they were definitely on board, and they definitely arrived at the airport, but they never met Brewster at the airport. I know because I talked to him this morning, and he said that they never arrived in Moscow."

Callen raised his eyebrows. " So, what happened?"

" That's just it." Nell stared at the computer screen, frozen on a street map of Moscow. " We have no idea."

" And this is Russia we're talking about." Eric reminded them. " We don't have access to anything over there. No cams, no computers…nothing. And they've been gone for a month now. Would have been nice to know earlier…but hey, what are you going to do? Anyway…until one of them makes contact, we have to consider them missing in action."

….

" Deeks, there's probably a good reason Crosby hasn't made contact yet." Kensi assured him. The LAPD liaison didn't look comforted. Instead, he looked worried.

" Four months is way too long, Kensi. We should have heard something by now!"

Kensi closed her eyes. This was actually turning into something of a nightmare. Sure, she had faced some tough times in her career as an agent, but this was pretty bad. She had barely made it through one month of being stuck in the farmhouse, she didn't think that she could last five more…or, God forbid, eleven more.

" Deeks, I'm sure it will be okay. Crosby said that we should wait until someone contacted us or until he himself made contact." Kensi heard her voice rising. She, too, felt that something was slightly off about this mission, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

" Oh, so we should just sit around and wait for what…another four weeks? Until the dealers murder another four members of the United States Armed Forces? Kensi, these men had lives, they had families, and they were slaughtered because they got into something they shouldn't have, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They didn't deserve to die, and it's our job to find the monsters behind this and shut this arms dealing operation down!" Deeks shouted. Kensi stared at him, meeting his eyes with her own. His expression was one she didn't often see: fear and angst.

She stood up and gave his shoulder a little shake.

" Hey, Deeks. Stop it."

Deeks looked away, and tried to pull his arm away from her hand. Kensi narrowed her eyes and leaned in closer, so that her lips were almost touching his.

" Deeks. Do you trust me or not?"

Deeks groaned and sank against the wall. Kensi remained where she was, even when Deeks turned so that they were only millimeters apart.

" Yeah, I trust you. Now the only question is…do you trust me?"

…

Nearly twelve hours had passed since Deeks and Kensi had been listed as 'missing', and the rest of the team wasn't taking it too well. Callen was pacing back and forth in the bullpen, while Sam sat at his desk and stared at the pencil that he twisted between his fingers.

" This doesn't make sense, Sam. They were on the plane, which means they got to the airport. But they never met Brewster there. They never made it to the meeting spot." Callen held up a photocopy of Deeks and Kensi's fake passports, identifying them as Ronald Huddle and Megan Crass, respectively. " They used fake IDs, it's unlikely that anyone would have followed them there and somehow prevented them from reaching the meeting spot."

Sam shook his head. " Unless they were ambushed at the airport. If someone knew they were coming."

Callen ran one hand across his forehead. " This doesn't make any sense at all. Hetty said that nobody knew about the mission-only her, Deeks, Kensi, Brewster and the big dogs on the Hill. So how the hell would someone be able to ambush them?"

Sam gave his friend a sad glance. " I don't know, Callen. I really don't know."

…

Upstairs, in the tech room, Eric and Nell sat side by side as they combed through hundreds of hours of footage from airport security camera tapes sent from the Moscow airport that Deeks and Kensi had landed in. So far, they had found nothing.

" This is pointless." Eric shook his head. " There are thousands of people on these tapes. Deeks and Kensi could be anywhere, or not even on here at all."

Nell turned to him, her amber eyes bright and sad in the bluish glow of the screens.

" We have to keep trying. They're our friends." Her voice snagged a little. " Eric, what if they're hurt?"

Her fellow techie turned back to the computer screen.

" Then we'll do whatever it takes to find them and bring them home."

A/N: Oh, gosh. Well, I hope that cleared up a few things. Let me recap, for those who are still maybe confused. Deeks and Kensi are assigned a dangerous mission to shut down an arms dealing ring run out of Russia that has been responsible for the deaths of several US Navy and Marine Corps personnel. They arrived in Moscow, where they meet a man named Crosby who tells them to go to a remote village where they will wait for contact from a member of the arms dealing ring. They wait for four weeks, but never hear anything. During this time Deeks and Kensi become romantically involved-okay, it would be kind of hard to miss that. Back home, it is revealed that while Deeks and Kensi arrived in Moscow, they never met the real NCIS agent, Agent Brewster, in Russia. Now the team must try and locate Deeks and Kensi before they find themselves in deeper trouble. Well, I know that I just broke the whole 'show don't tell rule', but hey, if someone's confused I have to clear things up. I know that the earlier chapters were unclear, and I'd like to apologize with all my heart for that. Again, feel free to tell me in a review if someone doesn't make sense! Love, Maddie


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So sorry for not continuing sooner! Thanks so, so, so much to all who reviewed! Review really do make my tiny little fanfiction world go round!

Disclaimer: Do not own NCIS: LA, as much as I love it.

" I think I'm going crazy." Deeks muttered, pacing back and forth. Kensi sighed. Her partner had been on the verge of panic for several days now, and it was all that she could do to keep him from bolting out the door and running to Moscow on foot.

" Think?" She inquired sarcastically. Deeks shook his head, ignoring her joke.

" Something's not right. Nobody has contacted us, not Eric or Nell or Crosby or anyone! They should have made contacted! They should have-"

" Deeks!" Kensi shouted. She stood, clenching her fists. " I agree that it's unusual that nobody has made contact, but come on! You're freaking out. Calm down."

" No." Deeks paced across the room. " Kensi, something's not right here."

" Yeah? You want the truth, Deeks?" She challenged. Deeks glared.

" That would be nice."

Kensi groaned. " Okay. Fine. You know what, Deeks? You've never been in a situation like this. You don't know what to do, and if we leave we could both get killed!"

Deeks just stared at her. " You think I would put you in danger, Kensi? Don't you trust me?"

" I don't know, Deeks!" She yelled. Silence followed this outburst. She stared at him, and he stared right back. The silence was deafening, and was broken by loud voices from outside. Someone was speaking in a loud, course whisper outside the window. Kensi frowned. None of the villagers ever came to the tiny hut on the edge of the field. She peered through the curtains, and her breath caught in her throat. Standing outside was a man holding a poorly concealed assault rifle.

" Deeks!" She hissed. Her partner glared. " There are men with guns outside. Get the guns and hand me my parka. We have to leave NOW."

Deeks nodded and handed her parka over. Kensi moved a table in front of the door and slid on her heavy winter jacket. They laced up their boots quickly, and Kensi gripped her Glock. Then she crossed the room and grabbed the case files. She took only the ones that were the most essential and shoved the rest into the fireplace. They could burn, taking their secrets with them.

" Out the back in three?" Deeks asked, opening the door. Kensi nodded, and they both bolted out the back door.

As soon as their footsteps began pounding across the frozen ground, she heard the sharp rat-tat-tat of gunfire. The shooter was obviously a newbie, because he couldn't seem to focus on his moving targets as they fled towards the woods. Kensi and Deeks both opened fire, sending the gunman collapsing to the ground, dead.

" Ah." Kensi leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. Deeks looked a little shell-shocked.

" Guess we should go to Moscow now." He muttered. Kensi nodded. Moscow was sounding better and better every second.

….

Several thousand miles away, two techies were going crazy trying to locate their missing friends.

" This makes no sense!" Nell exclaimed as she pounded away at her keyboard. Eric zoomed in on some footage of a Russian airport.

" I know. I know, Nell." He replied. " They're lost."

Nell sighed. " I mean, it was one thing with Dom. He was here, he knew that we had his back. But Deeks and Kensi…they're thousands of miles away and they think that we don't care about them. They probably think that we shut them off for a reason."

" Hey." Eric left his keyboard and stood behind Nell. " It's going to be fine. We'll bring them home."

Nell stood up and turned around. Tears glistened in her eyes.

" Eric, please tell me that's true." Without really thinking, Eric wrapped his arms around Nell. Instead of bolting away, she leaned against his chest, her tears dampening his shirt.

" It's true." He said. And Eric realized, suddenly, that it was true. He didn't know anything about Deeks and Kensi, he didn't even know if they were still alive, but he knew that he would do whatever it took to bring them home. They all would.

A/N: Whew! Well, sorry if it's a bit short, but it's just a little taste to get you all ready for the next chapter! I added some Nell/Eric stuff because there are NOT enough stories out there about these two. So…allow your mouse to drift lower and click the review button. You guys rock! Love, Maddie


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello, everyone! I am now back from my long hiatus from fanfiction, and I am fulfilling my promise to continue this story. There will be some more Densi romance in this chapter, I promise. Thank you so, so much for all the reviews and support. T-I-V-A1432: feel better! Strep is nasty, so here's some more writing for you.

Seven hours later, Kensi Blye and Marty Deeks stood in a Moscow train station, exhausted and a little scared. Kensi, the girl who seemed to be trained for everything, seemed lost and confused. Deeks, the guy who seemed to always screw up, was genuinely terrified for his life. And for Kensi's.

" This is great." Deeks muttered in English. He was relieved to be in a place where English-speaking foreigners were more commonplace, if not entirely accepted. At least here they could speak easily without being scrutinized too closely.

" Deeks, shut up." Kensi snapped. " We have almost no money, no food, nowhere to stay. We're almost totally screwed."

" At least we have two guns." Deeks replied. " We have our badges."

Kensi nodded, staring at the smoky city before them.

" Come on. We have to find somewhere to stay." She glanced around. " It's getting dark. We'll just sleep here, in the train station."

Deeks groaned and earned himself a swift elbow in the ribs.

" Trust me, Deeks. Moscow is _not_ a city you want to be strolling around in so late at night."

One in the morning found the two NCIS agents sleeping side by side against a wall in the north corner of the train station. At least, they were pretending to sleep. Deeks had one eye closed, and Kensi was doing a very convincing imitation of a peaceful sleeper.

" Hey, Kensi." Deeks nudged her a little with his elbow. " Aren't you scared of sleeping alone in this train station? I mean, beautiful woman, all alone…"

" I'm not alone." Kensi mumbled sleepily. " I have you to protect me."

And she snuggled against his side. Deeks slid one arm around her waist, drawing her closer. Although she had probably meant the words as a joke, he reasoned, he wanted her to feel safe. Judging by her rocky past, she probably hadn't felt safe in a long time.

Deeks didn't sleep all night. But he was pretty sure that Kensi had drifted off at about two, and he wanted to protect her. As cheesy as it was, whenever Deeks watched her sleeping, he felt like he was looking at a fallen angel.

….

Several thousand miles away, Nell and Eric were leaving the building. Nell had fought him tooth and nail to stay all night long in the tech room, searching for their lost friends. Eric had insisted that they go home, and he had offered her a ride to her apartment.

" Eric, what if they don't come back." Nell said, folding her sweater as she sat in the front seat of Eric's car. The bespectacled techie stared ahead, his expression worried in the red glow of the stoplight.

" Nell, they'll come home." He pulled up outside Nell's apartment.

" You're just saying that, Eric." She argued. Eric was thinking of something to say, but he couldn't find the words to say it. He couldn't bear to lie to his friend any longer.

" You're right. I honestly don't know if they're coming home." The lies had bothered Nell, but the truth brought tears to her eyes. She reached over, impulsively, and grabbed his hand.

" I'm scared they'll die." She whispered. " I'm scared _you'll_ die."

" Nell." Eric said. " I'm not even a field agent. How would I die?"

" People are crazy." The young techie replied, biting her lip. " Trust me, there are ways that you'd leave me."

Eric felt a strangely light feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

" Nell, I'm not going anywhere." He vowed. And then he kissed her. Nell jumped backwards, breathing fast.

" Oh, God." She muttered. Eric retreated to his side of the car, feeling guilty. He shouldn't have done that.

_ Nice move, asshole._ He told himself. _She doesn't even like you that way. You're just friends. At least, that's how she sees it._

" Eric." Nell touched his arm. " Come inside with me."

Eric was at once excited and terrified.

" Uh…okay. Why?"

Nell turned, shutting the car door behind her and clutching his arm as she unlocked the door.

" I don't want to be along tonight." She replied. And Eric knew exactly how she felt.

A/N: Sorry for the supershort chapter, but I had very little time and just wanted to see if people are still reading this story after I abandoned it for so long. Thanks so much for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews from the last chapter. You have motivated me to continue!

Moscow, Russia

Three weeks later:

" Deeks, we have to get out of here." Kensi paced back and forth across the creaky motel room floor. " I swear, I'm going crazy. We need a plan."

" I know, Kenz." Deeks stared out the window. " I know."

Kenzi thought that she might be going crazy. She and Deeks had managed to scrape together their lost dollars to rent a tiny room above a bakery near the Red Square.

It wasn't much, but it was home until the two federal agents could find a way home.

" It's already been five months." Kenzi said. " We could be here for years."

Deeks groaned. He knew that things were bad when Kenzi was acting so pessimistic.

" You're driving me crazy, Kenzi." He meant it. It made him insane that here was this amazing, beautiful, funny and super hot chick, and she refused to sleep with him. Usually Marty Deeks, dashing detective, had no problem charming women into his bed. Usually, they were girls that he didn't really like that much, much less love. And now the one girl who really mattered wasn't interested in taking what Deeks considered a key step in any relationship.

_It doesn't get much worse than this. _

It did.

" Almost five months." Nell said, staring at the plasma screen. " This is getting bad, Eric."

Eric nodded, a sad and far-away look on his face.

" I know, Nell. But you just have to trust that the team will do anything to bring them home."

" Eric, you know that I trust them." Nell said. " But they're only human. They're not superheroes, they can only do so much."

Eric stared at the map of Russia, zeroed in on Kensi and Deeks' last known location.

_They're only human. And so are we. _

Callen was becoming nervous. He had worked for the DEA and CIA, he had been through countless life and death situations, and he had fought his way out of them all. There was nothing he hated more than waiting.

As a child, he had waited constantly. Waited for someone to adopt him. Waited for someone to love him. Waited for someone to _want _him. And now he was waiting for Kensi to come home. And Deeks, of course. But Callen secretly felt that if one of the agents had to die over there in Russia and never make it home, it should be Deeks. Sure, the detective could be annoyingly charming at times, but Kensi was smart, and beautiful and incredible and just plain amazing.

And Callen knew that she would easily sacrifice her own life for Deeks'. It was just who she was. And the thought of her dying, or even getting hurt, made him sick.

_What's wrong with me?_ Callen wondered. He felt dizzy and weak, a tad ill. He hoped that he wasn't falling in love. Love, he assured himself, was far worse than any viral illness he could have picked up.

A/N: Again, sorry for another short chapter. With my cramped schedule, I have found that updating more often with shorter chapters is better than waiting a million years to update with one longer chapter. I hope you enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks so, so much to everyone reviewed the last chapter. I promise to update more frequently this week-almost Spring Break, during which I will have time to update nearly every day.

Moscow, Russia

_I think I'm going crazy. _Deeks stared out the window, though the grimy glass, to the bleak snow-covered city outside. Kensi had gone out again. She had started leaving more frequently, disappearing for long intervals of time. It made him nervous, even though she was a good agent and a fluent Russian speaker.

In truth, it made him nervous because she was really the only one who kept him sane. In her abscense Deeks feared that he would go crazy. He'd read about it happening, people trapped in lonesome foreign countries, stranded until they went nuts and killed someone.

Although Deeks kept his worries in check around Kensi, he was terrified that they would never leave Russia. Without passports, money or even proof of US citizenship, they had no way out of the country. And NCIS didn't seem to be making any moves to rescue them.

Deeks had to admit, he hadn't expected any less. It seemed like no matter where he went, be it NCIS or LAPD, everyone hated him.

Behind her strong façade that she had worked so hard to create, Kensi was terrified that they would be trapped in Russia for the rest of their lives. It wasn't that fact that hurt her the most. It was the fact that no one from home had made any effort to rescue them. It was like they didn't even care. And deep down inside, she couldn't be happier.

Kensi had been through this many times, during her Navy days and even at NCIS.

_She had been working in the San Diego field office, just a junior agent, when one of her best friends had been sent on a mission to Turkey. He was supposed to infiltrate a weapons-dealing cell that had attacked a Naval vessel. _

_ John Franklin was a good agent, young eager and handsome. Typical NCIS poster boy material, blond hair cut short, shining eyes and a constant eager-to-please expression. He was probably too young to go on the mission, but he fit the profile. Young, eager American, fresh out of the Navy and sick of war-time politics. Looking to betray his country instead of fighting for it. _

_` Kensi had gone with him to the airport, him already in his faded green jacket and combat boots and she wearing her civvies because she was off-duty and doing this as a friend. _

_ They stood in the middle of the airport and hugged. Kensi suddenly wanted to never let go. _

_ " John, promise me you'll be safe." She begged. He brushed her hair back from her eyes._

_ " I will, Kensi, I swear to you, I'll be back in a year." _

_ And he kissed her and walked away, though the departure gate and disappeared into the throngs of travelers arriving in San Diego. _

_ And Kensi stood there and watched him walk away. _

_ Several months passed, and Kensi woke up every day with a sinking feeling in her stomach. When 12 months had come and gone and it was winter again, she went to her superiors. _

_ SSA Mark East was a kind man, and he had been like a friendly uncle to Kensi. However, this familial relationship drew the line at her asking about John Franklin. _

_ " I'm not asking where he is, I just want to know when he's coming home." She said. Mark East folded his hands._

_ " Agent Blye, are you asking this on a personal or professional level?" He inquired. _

_ " Professional." Kensi stammered. " I mean, he's been gone for a year…and he said it would only take a year." _

_ A year is a long time for any federal agent. But every cop knows that undercover investigations rarely go as planned. _

_ In fact, two years passed before Kensi mentioned John again. By the time she went forth to Mark East's office, she already knew what the answer would be. _

_ " He's not coming back, Agent Blye." _

_ She had known for month, but it didn't stop bothering her. _

_ " He stopped making contact several months ago." _

_ " Are we going to send in a rescue team?" Kensi asked, heart hammering. " I can go to Turkey…I speak Arabic, I can go look for him." _

_ Mark East shook his head._

_ " We're not looking, Agent Blye." His voice softened. " By this time, he's probably either gone rogue or he's dead. We're not sending a team of agents halfway around the world to go find a dead body." _

_ " Dead body?" Kensi closed her eyes. " John's not dead." _

_ Mark East regarded her with sad eyes. When he spoke, his voice was gentle._

_ " Either, way, Kensi, he's gone." _

It was well after dark when Kensi arrived back at the tiny, cramped room. She was trembling with cold underneath a thin jacket. Her usual clothing: jeans or cargo pants and parka, had been replaced with a short skirt that Deeks didn't know Kensi even owned.

" Kenz!" Deeks handed her a blanket, and saw that her eyes were dark and full of sadness, and there were tear tracks on her cheeks.

" Um, is something wrong?"

" Here." Kensi handed Deeks a stack of money. He counted 30 rubles onto the table.

" Uh, Kenz…where did you get this?" Deeks inquired. Kensi cast him a dark look.

" Does that really matter, Deeks?" Something in her eyes told him not to dig deeper, but he couldn't help it.

" Where did you get these rubles, Kensi?"

Kensi stood up, her eyes full of fire.

" I told you it doesn't matter, Deeks!" Kensi shouted. " Damn it, maybe I'm not going to tell you!"

Deeks stared at her in horror.

" Did you become a prostitute?" He demanded. The words struck a nasty chord with Kensi, who grabbed a heavy book off the table and held it threateningly.

" I'm just asking. Kensi, don't do that…I mean, c'mon. You're better than that."

Kensi made a desperate sound halfway between a choke and a scream.

" You honestly think I'd hoe myself out? Go to hell, Deeks." She snapped.

" Hey." Deeks put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her against the wall.

" I think that you're a great agent, and that you'd do anything you can to get home."

" I stole it." Kensi said, but Deeks wasn't sure if she was lying or not. Still, before he could say anything Kensi had collapsed against him and her face was buried in his neck and there was something hot on his skin that felt like tears. Which meant that Kensi Blye, the unshakable Kensi Blye, was crying.

And that, more than anything, tore his heart to shreds.

Because if Kensi was crying, something was seriously wrong.

" Kensi, what's wrong?" Deeks asked, still shocked that his strong, seemingly unbreakable partner was sobbing into his shoulder. " Tell me, please. Are you hurt? Sick? Oh God, please tell me you're not pregnant."

Kensi landed a punch in Deeks' stomach and the detective groaned. Kensi straightened, blushing and hastily wiping away her tears.

" Sorry about that. I, um, I have something to tell you."

_Please, don't let her be pregnant,_ Deeks prayed. _I am so not ready to become a father, even if it is Kensi's baby. _

" Yeah?" He asked, almost afraid of what the answer might be.

" Deeks, you know how we've been trapped here this whole time, how we haven't called the team in on this one?"

" I thought that was because we had to find out who was shooting at us combined with the fact that we have no passports and no money." He said stupidly. Kensi shook her head, a light growing in her eyes.

" No, dumbass. We're federal agents. If we wanted to get out of here, we could. But we can't because we have a mission that the director of NCIS needs us to carry out."

Deeks sputtered.

" The director? You mean Vance? Screw Vance, I wanna live to see LA again!" The detective exclaimed.

" You can't say that, Deeks. We need to find Agent Crosby."

" I thought he was dead or something. Hey, didn't he say he'd contact us? He should have called by now. Rude." Deeks accused.

" Look, today I heard from one of my informants that Crosby is a bad cop. He's working for the Russian mob, and I think he wants us dead. For all we know, the hit man that almost blew us away at the cabin could have been acting on Crosby's orders." Kensi's expression was serious and her eyes kept darting towards the door, as if she expected someone to break in and start gunning the place up.

" Whoa." Deeks coughed. He couldn't believe that Kensi had been keeping this from him. Of course, he should have realized. He should have realized that something was wrong when Crosby never made contact. Hell, he should have realized something was wrong when a crazy hit man with an AK-47 started shooting up their safe house.

" Kensi, what else are you not telling me?" He paused. " Hey, if this crazy Russian mob dude is trying to kill us, shouldn't we be calling in the team? I mean, Nell and Eric can track us down in about two seconds and I know that Sam and Callen would go to the ends of the Earth for you…"

" Deeks." Kensi stopped him with a hand on his chest. " You don't understand. You're a detective. I'm an agent. We have to let the team think we're dead."

Deeks let out an insane-sounding laugh.

" Ha! You're kidding, right? What good will that do?"

" Because if Crosby thinks we're dead, he'll stop hunting us." A new, dangerous light was shining in Kensi's eyes. " And then we can start hunting him."

A/N: Sorry if that was confusing for anyone. As my star reviewer Nat has pointed out, it's kind of obvious that two federal agents with the Navy SEALS on their side could easily escape a foreign country without money and passports. However, Kensi has planned their being trapped there in order to conduct an undercover operation of her own. Hope this clears things up and thank you for reading! I promise more Densi romance in the next chapter. Maddie out.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you so, so much to everyone who reviewed this story. You guys have no idea how much it means to me. **** As I promised, here is more Densi romance, with a little angst of course, because there cannot be Deeks and Kensi and no angst. So here goes!**

" I can't believe you didn't tell me." Deeks said. He felt betrayed by his partner, by the one person he always thought he could trust.

" Well, I'm sorry Deeks." Kensi snapped. She didn't sound very apologetic.

" You should be." Deeks replied, feeling vindictive. " I'm your _partner _for God's sake!"

Kensi paced back and forth, hands on her hips, the brightly-lit city providing a dramatic backdrop to this angry duet.

" You want the truth, Deeks?" Kensi spat.

" Yeah, that'd be nice, for once!" Deeks answered, folding his arms in a _bring it on _motion.

" I thought you couldn't handle it."

" What?" Deeks gasped. He couldn't believe he was hearing this from Kensi Blye, the girl that he had come to trust more than anyone else on this planet.

" I thought you'd screw everything up, Deeks! I thought that you would blow our cover that I had been working on for months!"

" Do you really not trust me?" Deeks demanded.

" No, I guess I don't." Kensi replied. The words hurt more than any bullet or knife ever could.

" Kensi, I thought that we trusted each other. How the hell could you do this? Not tell me that both of our lives were in danger? What the _hell _were you thinking?"

" I was thinking that if I told you'd make some stupid mistake and get us both killed!" Kensi shouted. " Because you're _stupid_, Deeks!"

" I thought we were partners." Deeks said, feeling numb. Kensi gave him a searing stare, and the fire in her eyes was an equal match for a lightening storm.

" Not anymore."

And then she was gone, out into the freezing wind and the snow and the darkness, leaving Marty Deeks alone with his misery and anger and everything he had ever thought or felt about Kensi Blye was rushing in on him like a blizzard itself until it threatened to drown him.

" Damn it." He muttered, picking up his Glock. There was one round left, and he toyed with the idea of just shooting himself and ending the pain. It gave him a kind of sick satisfaction to imagine Kensi coming back hours or days from now and finding her ex-partner in a pool of blood on the floor. How, for a brief moment before her crime scene skills kicked in she would think he had been murdered. And the guilt that she would feel when she realized what had happened would eat her up till the day she died.

But Deeks would never do that. He might be pissed as hell at that woman right now, but in the end he loved her a lot more than he should and the thought of her being in so much pain broke his heart.

_Damn it, man._ Deeks thought. _You should be in a homicidal rage right now, you should want to _strangle _Kensi but you just can't stop thinking about her. Face it, bro. You're in love. _

Deeks suddenly remembered something one of his ex-partners, a female cop named Kala, had said to him once.

_You know that you love someone when you're pissed as hell and you still want nothing more than to kiss them. _

Deeks pulled on his jacket.

_Shoot. I've got it bad. _

He found Kensi in a rundown bar not far from the apartment. She was already halfway drunk, and fought him tooth and nail when he tried to drag her away from the vodka.

" Kensi, you're drunk." He repeated as he dragged her up the narrow stairs and into the apartment. " You're drunk."

Deeks didn't know what else to do, so he forced her to lie down on the sofa.

" I hate you, Marty Deeks." Kensi moaned. Deeks sighed. Kensi was defiantly tipsy.

" Deeks, I lied to you. I'm sorry." Kensi looked pitiful, her brown hair straggly and her eyes pleading.

" Shh. It's okay. We'll, uh, we'll work this out." Forgetting that Kensi had betrayed him and lied to him and practically thrown their partnership to the wolves, he ran his hand up and down her back until her breathing evened out and he was sure she was asleep.

" Oh, Kensi Blye. What am I going to do with you?"

" Something's not right." Nell was becoming frantic. " It's been five months, three weeks, one day, two hours, twenty-nine minutes and fifteen seconds since Kensi and Deeks left for Russia."

Eric managed a nervous laugh as his fellow techie paced back and forth, looking worried.

" Calm down, Nell. You're starting to act like Abby." He paused as Nell froze with her hands wringing the air. " Not that that's a bad thing. "He amended, recalling fond memories of his friend from the DC headquarters.

" Eric…" Nell collapsed into a swivel chair. " I'm just so worried. I mean, Kensi is like, a superspy and Deeks is…well, I'm sure he's good at something or he wouldn't be on the team. So shouldn't they be home by now? I mean, if they _are _MIA and this isn't part of the mission, they should have done something to get out…oh God, I'm rambling, I'm not making any sense."

Eric put a tentative hand on her shoulder.

" You make sense to me, Nell."

Nell pressed her lips together in a thin line and looked up at Eric.

" Thanks, Eric."

_Too long. _Callen thought, staring at the water glistening at the end of the Santa Monica Pier. _It's been way too long._

He usually wasn't one for mushy romantic moments, but Kensi's absence had made him wonder if he acted too callous sometimes. A tough childhood, a mysterious past working with various federal agencies and a harsh outlook on life had made romance hard for G Callen. Most of his past girlfriends had left him, or he had left them. Things had never worked out, and Callen had gotten used to it. He was alone, and he accepted the fact that life was lonely for a G-man like himself.

And then Kensi had come along, this beautiful, amazing woman and he had really thought that they had something and now she was gone. Just like that, disappeared off the face of the planet.

Callen had seen many men and women go undercover, go really deep, and never come back. But he hadn't loved any of them.

None of them, he reckoned with himself, had been Kensi.

Sam Hanna was usually a pretty calm man. The art of meditation had taught him that keeping calm and carrying on brought good things his way. Besides a high-stress job, his life was pretty damn good. He had a great partner, friendly coworkers, a nice apartment, lived in the sunniest city on the West Coast.

But right now, Sam was stressed. A less controlled man might have snapped and done something stupid. Like, say, murdered someone.

Right now, life was hectic. His good friend and coworker was gone, his less-good friend and annoying coworker was also missing, his best friend was going crazy and it was raining in the city of sun.

Sam groaned as the driver of a red Ferrari swerved dangerously through the traffic on the 405.

_So you drive a 50 thousand dollar car. _Sam thought. _You still drive like an asshole. _

_God, _Deeks thought. _What have I gotten myself into? _He was stretched out on the sagging sofa, holding Kensi in his arms. It was a feeling he never would have expected, one of warmth. Of course, the experience would have been a lot more pleasant if they had been at home, safe in LA, without some psycho turncoat trying to kill them.

_Crosby. _Deeks had known that there was something off about the guy from the second he had extended that fishy hand and said _Welcome to Russia, Agent Blye. _

_ I should have seen it coming. _He couldn't help but blame his poor investigating skills. _I should have realized, but I was so excited to fly the coop, get out of LA and into the big damn world. I should have paid more attention. I should have been a better detective. _

" Deeks." Kensi opened one eye. " I just thought-thought I'd let you know…um, I'm really, really sorry that I never told you about my, uh, my plan." Her voice was groggy with vodka and exhaustion, but her eyes were earnest.

Deeks sighed. As betrayed as he felt, he had to forgive her. In the long run, he promised himself, she was trying to save both their lives.

" Apology accepted." Deeks said. " I, uh, I won't say that it's okay, because it's not okay and you should never go behind your partner's back, but I accept your apology."

He felt her hand move against his, twining their fingers together. Deeks felt a thrill move through his hand that had nothing to do with the cold. It was like icy electricity, chilling and warming his veins at the same time.

" Just so you know, Deeks, I trust you." Kensi said. " I know that I'm not always the easiest person to get along with, but I really trust you."

Deeks leaned down, resting his cheek against her hair.

" Yeah, Kenz. I trust you too."

Somehow, he felt, this equated to _I love you. _It was as close as he was going to get.

" Sir, I have some bad news." The voice, American accent tinged with Russian, no doubt the result of many years spent abroad, was barely above a whisper. " The two targets I have been tracking…they seem to have vanished."

" Vanished?" An angry voice, harsh Russian, like an iron grate being moved along cobblestones. " What the hell do you mean?"

The American paused.

" The assassin I sent to their remote village has not returned. The targets most likely killed him. However, I believe that the two targets may also have been killed."

The Russian grunted.

" You better make sure of that before you repeat that to the boss."

" I thought you were the boss." The American said stupidly.

" You were wrong." The Russian laughed coldly. " You answer to me. I am not the boss. This is a chess game, on a board much larger than you ever assumed. And you, Crosby, you are nothing more than a pawn."

**A/N: Well, I hope that everyone liked this chapter! I will be attending a science convention this weekend, and I may not be able to update till Sunday or Monday…when Spring Break begins! Is anyone else seriously ready for some downtime? Enough with tests and homework, bring on the fun and sun (in the warmer West, anyway) and relaxation. Have a great weekend, everyone!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So apparently deletes line breaks, so sorry if that confused anyone. I reread it online and was like 'whaaaat?'. But I have devised a new method of line breaking. From now on, "…" means new scene. **** Thank you so, so much to all who continue to review this story. Here goes…**

Moscow, Russia

" Damn it!" Kensi ducked behind a stack of storage boxes and pulled back the safety on her Glock. Just a few feet away, a dead body lay on the cement floor. The cold, fishy eyes staring at the ceiling identified him as the double-crossing Agent Crosby.

" Kensi, he's dead." Deeks said, sounded relieved. " This means that we can go home! We're not being hunted anymore!"

Kensi clapped a hand over her partner's mouth.

" Deeks, shut up. If Crosby's dead, that leaves things uncovered. Who the hell killed him?"

Fear registered in Deeks' blue eyes. His hand went to his holster.

" I dunno. Maybe another scheme he was mixed up in?"

" Highly unlikely." Kensi snapped. Her eyes softened and she leaned towards her partner.

" Look, Deeks, I just want you to know…" She never finished the sentence.

" Time to die, Agents." A voice, heavy and with a pronounced Russian accent, issued from the darkness behind them.

And then the air exploded and Kensi Blye dropped to the floor.

..

Los Angeles, CA

12 Hours Earlier

" No sign of activity from anywhere in Russia." Eric announced, his face grave. He had dreaded making this announcement for several weeks now. That the signs that their friends were still alive were quickly fading. That the chances increased daily that they would not return home.

Before he could say anything else, Hetty entered the room, her face grave. The team turned, and what they saw was foreboding.

" I'd like to see you all in my office. Now." Hetty ordered. Eric's heart sank. He saw similar looks of worry on the other team member's faces as they followed Hetty down to her cozy office.

The tiny woman took a seat behind her desk and folded her hands.

" I have an unfortunate announcement to make."

The silence was thick and charged, electricity seemed to crackle in the very air surrounding them.

" Shortly after ten AM today, I received news that Agent Kensi Blye and Detective Marty Deeks have been shot and killed in the line duty while completing a mission in Russia."

The silence turned deafening.

" No." Nell whispered. Sam cursed loudly and Callen's face drained of color.

Eric felt his heart drop through the floor and become lost in the sea of activity below, on the first floor. Nell's hand found his in the confusion and he clutched her fingers, grateful to have something to hold onto.

" What happened?" Callen asked, his knuckles turning white as he clutched the back of a chair. " Who killed them?"

" We do not know that yet." Hetty announced. " Although we believe that the shooter may have been an arms dealer that the two were tracking."

There were tears in Sam's eyes and Nell was crying into Eric's shoulder. He laced his fingers tightly with hers. He suddenly felt that her hand was the only thing keeping him from drifting away, high into the clear Los Angeles sky and then up into whatever oblivion was above the atmosphere.

First Dom, now Kensi and Deeks. A double blow. A double tragedy. A loss that none of them would ever recover from. The loss of love and the loss of innocence.

…

_It's not fair. _It wasn't often that Callen entertained those words in his thoughts, but now they had become his mantra. After the rest of the team had drifted from Hetty's office, their faces blank and eyes glazed, Callen had sought refuge on the roof. The sun was starting to lower in the sky, painting long shadows across the city. Up here, in the cool and the silence, Callen could be alone with his grief.

He had lost men and women before. He had grieved their losses like any coworker and friend would. But none of their losses had even come close to what he felt now.

Kensi hadn't been just another operative. They weren't just friends, they weren't just coworkers. He had loved her.

" Hey, man." It was Sam. Great. Callen contemplated shouting at the other man, telling him to go away. He didn't want company.

" Sam, I don't want to talk."

" We're all sad, G. We all loved them both."

_Not like this. You never loved Kensi like this. _Callen wanted nothing more than to yell those words at his partner, show him the blinding truth.

" I've lost men before, Sam."

" But this loss is the worst." Sam said. " Because you loved her, didn't you?"

Callen felt like someone was poking his heart with a branding iron.

" Shut up, Sam." He snapped. " Just go away."

" Man, I can't!" Sam shouted. " You're gonna do something stupid, G. You're gonna jump off the building or shoot yourself with that gun of yours. You always talk about how you're gonna die in the line of duty one day, why not today, huh? Make it look like an accident?"

" You're starting to tempt me, Sam!" Callen yelled. Sam snatched the gun out of Callen's holster and jammed it into his pocket.

" Just get the hell away from me." Callen yelled. Sam grabbed his partner's arm.

" I swear, G, I'm gonna cuff you to a railing." The agent threatened. Callen growled.

" Damn it, Sam. My friend just died."

" She was more than a friend, wasn't she, Callen?" Sam asked, his tone morphing into one of understanding. " I can see it written all over your face, pal."

Callen suddenly fought off tears. He hadn't cried in years, but now he felt like sobbing. Sam patted his back awkwardly and Callen leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, fighting the urge to weep.

" You're not alone, G." Sam promised. " But I know that you loved her."

…

Twenty minutes later, Eric sat on the floor of the women's restroom, his arms around a sobbing Nell.

" I can't believe they're dead." She chocked. " I mean, it's different when it's someone else, just a picture on the plasma. Now it's someone I know and love and they're never coming home."

Eric rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. He wished that he had been nicer to Deeks and that he had told Kensi what an amazing friend she was. Had he ever told her? He didn't remember.

" What if you die too?" Nell squeezed Eric tighter, mumbling into his shoulder. " I mean, there are probably people who want you dead."

" Nobody's going to kill me, Nell. I swear, I'm never going to leave you,"

Nell turned watery, hopeful eyes towards her techie partner.

" You mean that, Eric?"

" I mean it."

…

Moscow, Russia

12 hours earlier

" He's here." Kensi was pacing back and forth in front of the window. " Crosby is here in Russia."

" Where?" Deeks asked. He felt jittery and almost nauseous. He couldn't believe that in a few hours they might be facing off with the dirty cop who had attempted to assassinate them.

" I've heard he has an apartment near the Red Square. It's only a few blocks from here." Kensi told him. She fidgeted with the buttons of her coat. " We should leave now, before it gets dark."

Deeks stood, pulling on his parka.

" We could die, you know."

" Shut up." Kensi replied, holstering her weapon and heading for the door. " I hate it when you talk like that."

" If we die, you can have my gun and my badge." Deeks offered. He saw a dangerous look flash across Kensi's face as they headed out the door and into the chilly afternoon air.

" But you have to sell my apartment. Oh, and you can have my books, too. Just get rid of the dirty pictures. Burn em or something."

Kensi glared.

Deeks forced a chuckle. He wished he was kidding, but he wasn't. This was how agents handled emotions. And now, when emotions ran high, he laughed. Forced, strained, laughter. But laughter all the same. And Kensi, well, Kensi got sad and tightly wound. Like a Slinky, ready to bend whichever way her boss told her.

Crosby's apartment was tiny and cramped and when Kensi jimmied the lock on the door a rank smell hit their noses.

" Ugh." Deeks coughed and hacked. "What the hell is that?"

Kensi pulled her weapon and together they cleared the two rooms.

" Smells like a dead body." She commented. Kensi was proved right when she yanked aside the moldy bathroom curtain to reveal a half-rotten body, nearly dissolved in lye.

The smell was disgusting and overpowering, and she yanked the bathroom door closed.

" I feel like we should call the police right about now." Deeks commented. Kensi let out a cough/laugh that sounded like a goat's bleat.

" Funny, Deeks. Let's just call up the police in freaking _Russia _where we'll probably end up getting arrested. Trust me, no one's gonna miss this guy."

" Touching." Deeks said. Kensi examined a map tacked to the wall.

" Look." She pointed to a red circle. " A warehouse or something a few blocks from here. This could be where Crosby has set up HQ for his sick little plot to kill us."

" Great." Deeks rubbed his arms through his parka. " Let's hasten there, shall we?"

Kensi nodded and ripped the piece of map off the wall.

" Why does it feel like we're walking straight into the arms of death?" Deeks asked. Kensi didn't say anything.

_Into the arms of death. From the frying pan into the fire. _

…

" This is really creepy." Deeks commented as he and Kensi crunched through the layer of snow in front of the abandoned warehouse. " Like, Ghostbusters creepy."

Kensi snorted.

" Thanks, Deeks. You know how I love it when you categorize things using outdated TV shows."

" My pleasure." Deeks smirked. He wasn't trying to piss Kensi off, so he stopped there.

She pushed the huge door open a few inches, revealing pitch darkness.

" Funny. You'd think that it would be locked." Deeks said. He shrugged. " Maybe security is lax."

" Just get behind me." Kensi said, drawing his weapon and creeping inside the warehouse.

The inside of the warehouse was cold and dark, a light snow falling through the holes in the ceiling. Kensi and Deeks moved silently through the stacks of old boxes, weapons drawn and ready to fire.

_If I see anyone, I'm shooting them before they can kill either of us. _Deeks promised himself. He didn't want Kensi getting shot, and he didn't particularly want to die either.

" Oh, God." It was Kensi. She had stopped moving a few yards ahead and was standing stock still, staring at something.

" Damn it!" Kensi ducked behind a stack of storage boxes and pulled back the safety on her weapon. Just a few feet away, a dead body lay on the cement floor. The cold, fishy eyes staring at the ceiling identified him as the double-crossing Agent Crosby.

" Kensi, he's dead." Deeks said, sounded relieved. " This means that we can go home! We're not being hunted anymore!"

Kensi clapped a hand over her partner's mouth.

" Deeks, shut up. If Crosby's dead, that leaves things uncovered. Who the hell killed him?"

Fear registered in Deeks' blue eyes. His hand went to his holster.

" I dunno. Maybe another scheme he was mixed up in?"

" Highly unlikely." Kensi snapped. Her eyes softened and she leaned towards her partner.

" Look, Deeks, I just want you to know…" She never finished the sentence.

" Time to die, Agents." A voice, heavy and with a pronounced Russian accent, issued from the darkness behind them.

And then the air exploded and Kensi Blye dropped to the floor.

" Shit!" Deeks cried, firing in the direction that the shots had come from. He turned to Kensi, who was lying on the floor, blood pooling from a wound on her shoulder.

" Ah, how sweet." A figure emerged from the shadows, a lean, scarred face beneath a brimmed hat. The man's voice was thick, Russian, and in his hand gleamed a pistol. " You go to the girl. Risk your own life for her."

" Get away." Deeks aimed his gun, ready to fire if necessary. " I will not hesitate to blow a hole straight through your chest."

A cruel laugh.

" But I will kill the girl first. Blow a hole between those pretty eyes."

On the floor, Kensi groaned.

" Marty." Her hand twitched, reaching for Deeks' fingers. And with this gesture, his heart broke a little more.

" You'll have to get through me first. You'll have to shoot and kill me to get her. Do it. Go on, shoot me now." His voice didn't waver, and it scared him how readily he was sacrificing himself to save Kensi.

" I will just shoot you both. I think I will make your death more painful, though." The man taunted. " You are starting to annoy me."

" Kill her and I'll kill you." Deeks threatened. The man just chuckled.

" The federal agents who wouldn't die. I sent assassins after you, I turned one of your own against you, and still you would not die." The man clicked off the safety of his pistol with a soft _chunk. _" Why is that, Mr. Deeks?"

Deeks looked at Kensi, barely stirring on the floor in the pool of scarlet blood. And he looked at the man in front of him. And it was then that Marty Deeks realized that he was willing to die for someone that he loved.

" Because we have something to live for."

And he pulled the trigger.

…

Los Angeles, CA

OPS HQ

" Oh my God!" Nell's scream sent Eric, Sam and Callen rushing to see if the young techie was injured.

" What's wrong?" Eric asked. " Are you okay."

Nell looked confused and panicked.

" I don't know. I just got a call from Russia. Someone called from a payphone outside a Moscow hospital. Said they needed a military flight out of the city, said they had a delivery for NCIS. They said it would be two of their agents." Her eyes filled with tears. " I think it's Kensi and Deeks…um, their bodies."

Callen turned away. Sam sighed. And Eric went to go get Hetty, who authorized a flight from Moscow to LAX to arrive the following morning.

It was with this announcement that the team realized that their friends were never coming home.

…

" Deeks, I've taken more than one bullet in my life, you know." Kensi said, seated in the back of a military cargo plane somewhere above the Pacific Ocean. Deeks leaned back in the net seat and rubbed his eyes.

" God, Kensi, You scared the crap out of me. I thought you were gonna _die_."

" Why?" Kensi gave a little groan of pain as she rearranged her bandages. " Because I laid on the ground and moaned for a few minutes. Okay, I was really hurt, but I still fudged a little bit. I am an undercover agent, you know."

Deeks shook his head. When he spoke again, his voice adopted a more serious tone.

" I was ready to die for you, Kensi." He paused. " And that kind of scared me, you know?"

Kensi's brown eyes turned to meet his and her gaze was level.

" I know. It scared me too. I could hear you, saying that we lived because we had something to live for."

There was a long silence as the plane banked high above the gleaming waves and settled into a turn, bound for home.

" What did you have to live for, Deeks?" Kensi asked. Deeks weighed his options and decided that truth was the best policy.

" You."

…

Little over an hour later, a military cargo plane taxied to a halt on an LAX runway. It was an unusual sight among the sleek passenger jets and bulky 747's, it's grey metal exterior blending with the smoggy LA sky. The bay doors of the C-17 opened and two figures exited. The woman wore a faded green jacket and the man a worn parka. They could have been members of the homeless population of Wilshire or the Palisades Park, but the military arrival said otherwise.

The sun was setting to the West, over the gleaming waves of the Pacific. The sky was clear and the cloud banks painted pink and gold. The air was warm and dry, a typical LA evening.

" Shit, Deeks." Kensi looked around, sucking in the air, drinking up the glow of the sun. " We're home."

And then he kissed her, right there on the tarmac, not caring who saw. Kensi curled her fists against Deeks' chest.

" We should go the OPS." She said, breathless. Deeks nodded, and despite the fact that they had less than 7 dollars, all in small change, they managed to make it to the downtown headquarters.

The building was dead this time of evening, with only a few agents filing out and getting into cars parked in the ally and across the street. Kensi's heart was beating like a rabbit's thumping foot as she and Deeks approached the creaky old service elevator.

Inside, one agent was riding up, a young man with close-cropped dark hair.

" Undercover work?" He asked knowingly, eyeing their tattered clothes and dirty faces.

Kensi actually laughed.

" Yeah. Undercover work."

…

The first person to see them was Nell. Her shrill shriek summoned the others like a whistle calling home a pack of dogs. The red-haired techie launched herself at Kensi and hugged her tightly.

"Omigodyou'" Nell gushed in one breath, a stream of unintelligible nonsense in Kensi's ear.

Sam picked Kensi up and spun her around, and Callen hugged her so tightly she thought she might have cracked a rib. She threw her arms around Eric's neck.

" We thought you were dead." Eric sounded like he was trying hard not to sob. " We really did."

" But we're home now." Kensi said. She didn't want to ruin this moment, she wanted to capture it forever, all the joy and the love bottled up forever.

She didn't want it to end.

…

Several hours later, Callen watched Kensi and Deeks leave the HQ together. He saw the way that Kensi's hand found Deeks' and the way that she leaned against him. The gestures were close, intimate. And Callen suddenly knew that Kensi didn't need him and she didn't want him anymore. There was someone else holding her now and that someone was a man who had clearly done something very right. Deeks.

_Damn intern. _Callen thought callously. He had loved and lost before. He would wait, and let time take its course. And where it left him, he would accept. He hoped it was somewhere with Kensi.

…

" This all seems a little surreal." Kensi commented. Several hours later, Kensi and Deeks walked along the end of the Santa Monica Pier. Deeks had vied for going home and sleeping, but Kensi had pressured him into enjoying the familiar sights of home. Kicked up on painkillers, the last thing Kensi wanted to do was rest.

" Like I'm going to wake up and still be in that Russian hospital."

Deeks squeezed her hand.

" No, I'm pretty sure you're here with me."

" Besides." Kensi said, staring at the moon playing over the cresting dark waves. " If this is a dream, I never want to wake up."

**A/N: Wow…that was quite a wild ride, eh? Sorry that this chapter packed so much in, but I didn't want to make you guys wait anymore. I will be continuing with some more Kensi/Deeks stories that take place after this fic. Please tell me what you think…and now would be a good time to mention all of my reviewers, who are the most awesome people ever. The list is probably too long to fit, so I will say: thanks to everyone who read this story and/or reviewed it. You guys have kept me going. **** Have a great week! **


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